The Pull of Destiny (60 page)

“Okay auntie.
I’ll be home pretty soon. Um, Robyn just made nachos. Sure. Okay. Bye.”

She hung up and
slipped her cell phone into the pocket of her hoodie. “Luke, I have to go soon
or Aunt Kelly will get suspicious. Not that I’m doing anything wrong, but-.”

I nodded to
show that I understood, even though I didn’t want her to leave just yet. There
was just something about her that made me feel- happy.

“I’ll give you
a ride,” I told her, slinging an arm companionably over her shoulder. “And this
time, I’ll park up a block.”

CiCi’s
shoulders shook as she laughed, the sound of her laugh making me feel all warm
and fuzzy inside. Shazia was so right it was ridiculous. I was so into CiCi
that I felt giddy and I’m the kind of guy that
never
feels giddy for
anyone and anything. Yet as CiCi turned her face up to look at me, my heart
skipped a beat and I felt- giddy. “Thanks, Luke.”

“No problem,” I
said in a voice that was almost a whisper, staring down into her beautiful
face. The bruises were fading slightly, but it still made me wanna punch Nate
out.

We walked into
the elevator, which was empty and I pushed the ‘down’ button.

“I still can’t
believe you were fighting, what if something had happened to you?” CiCi said. I
turned to her- she was leaning against the back of the elevator, her arms
folded across her chest and a stern expression on her face.

I knew she was
talking about the aneurysm. “I’m not going to live my life being scared,” I
said honestly, moving to stand right in front of her.

She went off on
another tangent, shaking her head and making her sweet smelling hair fly out.
“I’ve got to do something about this,” she said, the determined tone of her
voice reminding me of Faith.

I scratched my
head, confused for a quick second. What were we talking about? That strawberry
scent was making me lightheaded! “About what?”

CiCi pursed up
her lips. I licked mine, my heart thudding in my chest as I stared down at her.
I wanted to kiss her so bad, but I couldn’t. Willpower. Don’t mess up your
friendship. Don’t do it! “There’s gotta be a way to get Principal Herman to
backtrack on his decision.”

“What, you mean
re-enroll me?” I laughed out loud. “Hell no, he’s glad to finally be rid of
me.”

“He said he
owed your dad a favor,” CiCi reminded me, looking thoughtful. “Maybe if your
dad calls in that favor-.”

I shook my
head, seeing what she was getting at and sensing a fail. “On my behalf? Not
gonna happen.”

“Stop being
negative, Luke,” CiCi snapped, frowning at me. “I’m trying to help you out
here!”

“I know,” I
said, squeezing her shoulder. “But as far as this whole situation goes, as soon
as I have surgery, I’m off to the UK. Probably military school or some shit. So
I might as well make the most of the here and now.”

“Don’t give up
so easily,” the motivational speaker in training said. “You can appeal! Get
Ahmed to admit that he- pushed you too far and it was partially his fault.
Maybe he’ll change his mind and suspend you instead.”

I laughed
again. There was no way Ahmed would back me on this. The snitch couldn’t even
look me in the eye when we were called to the principal’s office. And to think
for a while he’d been the closest friend I had. “Ahmed hates me right now. I
almost broke his nose! He’ll never agree to that. Just- drop it, CiCi. I’ll be
okay.”

“We can try,”
CiCi said, her eyes glistening with tears. “You don’t know what will happen
unless we...”

I stared down
at her as she continued to talk frantically, my eyes on her moving lips. God, I
wanted to kiss her. But I, Luke Astor, was scared. Scared at how she might look
at me after. I didn’t want to ruin what we had, but I also didn’t want to go
through my life wondering what might have happened. Also, if I really was
living just for the here and now, this was a perfect example of here and now.
Right here, in this elevator, I wanted to kiss Celsiana Sawyer. Just because.

“...And anyway,
Tamara Jordan appealed against her expulsion when she was caught with Coach
Peele, remember? I just think-.”

CiCi’s
monologue ended in a sharp gasp as I lowered my head and tentatively brushed my
lower lip against hers.

I could feel
her heart thumping through the layers of our clothing, feel her body heat rise
as I kissed her, running the tip of my tongue over her full bottom lip. She let
out a shuddering breath as my arms trailed down to her hips. My hands encircled
her waist as I backed her up against the elevator wall, loving how her lips
felt on mine.

She tasted
exactly how I expected her to taste. A hint of strawberry Chap Stick and
something else that was pure CiCi.

I kissed her
softly because I knew her lip was still slightly swollen and I didn’t want to
hurt her. All of a sudden, CiCi started kissing me back, nibbling tenderly on
my bottom lip as I sucked on her top lip, making her shiver in my arms. She
wrapped her arms around my neck, our bodies molding together as she drew me
closer, her fingers tangling in my hair. Her teeth grazed my lip, making me
groan quietly as I pulled back from her lips, the world almost spinning because
this was just too good to be true.

Wonderingly,
CiCi opened her eyes and goggled at me as I took a step back, knowing exactly
what I was about to do. “Luke- what was- what just-?” she spluttered as I
stepped back to the elevator control panel and hit the emergency stop button.
The elevator slid smoothly to a halt and I turned back to CiCi, loving her wide
eyed innocent face as she stared up at me. “Luke-?”

All I wanted to
see CiCi happy, make CiCi happy, and kiss CiCi senseless. And that was never
gonna happen if she was gonna keep on talking.

Lowering my
head down to hers, I whispered in her mouth, “CiCi, for the love of God. Shut
up.”

And then I
kissed her again.

 CHAPTER 24

this is what
dreams are made of.

Celsi's Point of View

My mind was a flurry of
jumbled, unconnected thoughts as Luke pressed his lips against mine again, his
hands cupping my face tenderly.

This
had
to be a
dream.
It has to be.
I mean, look at it from my point of view, if you
will. One second I was talking, (non-stop, granted, but
still
)
the
very next second
, Luke had me pressed up against the elevator wall without
so much as a 'by your leave' and my mind was trying to tell me it was really
happening? Luke was really kissing the living daylights out of me?

Nuh uh.
I must've been tripping out because
there was no way my body was pressed against Luke's as I ran a hand through his
soft, dark hair like I'd been wanting to do since… well, forever, really. And
yet, despite my confused mind trying to confirm what was going on with cool,
calm logic, the fact remained.

The elevator's stopped
and I'm kissing Luke Astor!

And he was
really
kissing me now, leading me to firmly co-sign the idea Faith had put into my
head ages ago. Luke
was
a good kisser, gentle and attentive. He caressed
my cheek lightly with one hand as he sensually sucked on my lower lip. I
trembled involuntarily as he cautiously worked his mouth over mine, slowly and
softly darting the tip of his tongue out to brush against my lips, as if to
feel me out. His other hand slipped down to my waist, which was good due to the
fact that I was starting to feel lightheaded (
can you blame me?
Can
you
?) and my legs were shaky. But thankfully, Luke's arm snaked around my
waist, keeping us pushed close together.

His lips were so soft
against mine as his teeth nipped teasingly at my top lip and then suckled the
pain of the bites away. Cautiously, I kissed him back, impulsively grasping the
belt loops on his jeans and pulling him even closer to me. I could feel his
heart beating fast through my hoodie.
At least I'm not the only one who's
into this.
Though if he wasn't, he wouldn't have made a move on me, would he?
Shut up, common sense.
It almost took my breath away when Luke's tongue
brushed tentatively between my lips as if he was asking me if this was okay
with me.
Oh, trust me, Luke, it's more than okay.

Shivering more with
delight and anticipation than with anything else, I parted my lips, letting
Luke's talented tongue slide into my mouth, exploring. He licked my teeth as
both his hands came to rest on my hips, the simple yet sexy act causing my toes
to curl. His tongue touched the tip of mine, overlapped it with his own. I
tensed up; the intimate touch eliciting a strange but pleasurable feeling in my
whole body that I'd never even guessed existed.
Oh, my God...

I let out a small whimper
as Luke's tongue twirled around mine while his hands stroked my sides slowly.
No
wonder Joanna had trouble letting him go! Who would have guessed that Luke
could handle his business so capably- mmm...

All coherent thought
ceased as Luke moved his tongue unhurriedly and sensuously around mine, making
me totally melt into his arms. With a slight suck, Luke brought my tongue into
his warm, wet mouth, leaving me completely breathless.

Everything else
disappeared and there was only me and Luke and the exquisite feeling of his
lips on mine, kissing, sucking and teasing.

A sudden loud ringing
noise that seemed to be originating from the elevator itself shattered the
illusion that time had stopped for Luke and I. He backed up, breathing hard as
he stared dazedly at me, licking his kiss swollen lips.
He looks so hot.
Sluggishly, I started to raise my hand up to my own, stopping it in mid-air and
pointing at the elevator phone.

"I think- I think
it's coming from there," I said, my voice sounding as dazed as Luke
looked.

Clearing his throat, Luke
said, "I'll get it," in a husky voice. He hesitated, looking like he
wanted to add something, then shook his head and loped to the phone.
"Hello? Yeah. No, we're okay. I'm sorry, I just- yeah, I get it. We were
just talking, so I thought- uh-huh. I understand. I will. Sorry. Okay, bye."

A sheepish grin on his
face as he turned around, Luke said, "Apparently, stopping an elevator at
the Empire State Building backs up human traffic like nobody's business."
He grinned sexily as he pressed the emergency button to start the elevator.
"Who knew?"

"I could have told
you that," I said, trying to maintain my composure after that kiss.
Act
normal, Celsi, he's coming back!
How was I supposed to act? Were we gonna
talk about it? Was he gonna kiss me again? What was I supposed to do?
So
many questions and not a single answer.

The elevator jerked back
to life as Luke made his way to stand beside me. This time, he didn't kiss me,
but instead slung an arm over my shoulder and hugged me to him.

"Hey, you know
what?" he whispered in my ear, his hot breath making my ear tingle. In a
good way.

Boy, you need to stop.

"What?" I
whispered back.

"Today turned out to
be pretty awesome, pretty much thanks to you."

I could barely breathe.
Did this mean we were gonna talk about the kiss? "Oh, yeah? What did I
do?" I asked, trying to sound flippant.

Grinning down at me, Luke
kissed my forehead lightly before saying, "You helped me strike two things
off my list."

I scratched my nose,
confused. "What do you mean? What things?"

Luke's grin grew wider and
his dimples popped into view as he replied. "Kiss somebody in mid-sentence
and make out in an elevator."

My heart skipped a beat.
What
the...?

The elevator came to a
smooth stop and the doors opened just as I turned to give Luke a stare of
utmost surprise. He didn't see it as he was busy ushering me out of the way of
the crowd of people scrambling to get in the elevator.

What the hell had Luke
just said? I helped him strike two things off his list? So did that mean he had
just used me?
You just got kissed and dismissed...

I swallowed hard, my mouth
suddenly dry as we stepped outside, a brisk wind blowing my hair around my
face. Luke was saying something as he flagged down a cab but I couldn't focus
on him. I couldn't focus on anything except for my own stupidity.
You're so
easy, Celsi.
I didn't want to believe it, but it had to be true. I had
wanted Luke to kiss me so bad that I hadn't even wondered why he was doing it.
What had changed? Obviously nothing. He just wanted to use me for his own
selfish reasons. After all, I was helping him with his list!
But not like
that.